Since the nineteen eighties, the predominant means of human-computer interaction has been via a graphical user interface (GUI). The dominant form of GUI has been known by the acronym WIMP after its main elements: window; icon; menu; and pointing device. In this form of interaction, the computer operating system provides a display representing a desktop metaphor with icons representing links to objects such as directories and applications. On selection by a user of an appropriate icon, the operating system may create an instance of an application which runs within a window, a metaphorical “view” of the running application which functions as a self-contained entity on the desktop of the GUI display. The user interacts with the GUI using a pointing device, such as a mouse or a joystick, to control the movement of a cursor which specifies the point of interaction with the GUI display. Using, for example, a mouse, the user may position the cursor over graphical controls such as icons, menu entries, and window control regions, and then operate a mouse button to send an operation command to the control, which then causes an operation specified by the control to be performed. In an example of a user interface provided by Microsoft Windows (Windows is a registered trade mark of Microsoft Corporation) the window has three control buttons at the top right of the window which, respectively, cause the following functions to be performed: minimizing the window to, for example, a selectable icon on the toolbar of a GUI display; maximizing the window to cover the full screen of the display; and closing the window to close that instance of an application.
A user may have many windows and minimized windows displayed at a time, and may be opening and closing new windows over time. In such an environment, windows may be created or restored from a minimized condition at any time. It is therefore possible for windows to be created or restored to a position on the display so that a window control button is under the current position of the cursor. If at the same time a user operates a mouse button, for example, this will cause the unintended operation of the window control button function, such as to minimize, maximize or close the corresponding window.
United States published patent application US 2009/0193357 discloses a method to prevent a second application GUI interface window blocking a first application GUI interface window while the user's focus is on the first window causing unintended input into the second application window. This is accomplished by temporarily discarding inputs while the graphical cursor is located on the second application window for a predetermined amount of time to give the user enough time to refocus on the second application window.
United States published patent application US2009/0125850 discloses the addition of a user selectable lock to a GUI control, such as a close button. The lock can be imposed on an individual window. After being applied, a user will have to explicitly unlock the control before the control can be selected, which prevents inadvertent selections of the locked control. For example, a lock can be placed on a close control to prevent accidental closing of a window. Locks can be manually or automatically applied. Automatically applied locks can be associated with a set of user configurable rules, which can also establish rules for automatically unlocking GUI controls. An applied GUI control lock can be unlocked in a user configurable manner, with any level of security.
It would be advantageous to provide a better solution to the problem of the inadvertent selection of GUI window control buttons which may occur when a window is displayed on a display screen and the position of a window control button coincides with the graphical cursor position.